Soccer team unhappy with training facility
Coach says their frustrations are mainly that they have to pay to utilise the facilities but feel that the funds could be directed elsewhere in terms of the development of the team.
The Super Tigers Football Club is caught between a rock and a hard place as players are struggling to train for upcoming games. This is due to the challenges of accessing fields at the Greenhills Stadium
According to one of the coaches at the club, Reetsang Matlhare, because of these challenges, their training sessions are often compromised.
Matlhare said their frustrations are mainly that they have to pay to utilise the facilities but feel that the funds could be directed elsewhere in terms of the development of the team.
Also read: Investing in the beautiful game and providing facilities
“This is extremely frustrating. Our issue is mainly our biggest expense which is the facility. Using the stadium is costing us money out of our own pockets. The problem is, it’s not even up to standard where we would want it. Every day is a battle in trying to get a sense of who’s supposed to be using the field. If we do train at night, there are no lights provided.
Where and when should we then train? This is going to be an issue in winter, and we won’t even be able to give back by helping these boys train,” said Matlhare who further stated that their frustrations are mainly directed at the Rand West City Local Municipality (RWCLM) which is in charge of the facilities.
Meanwhile, in contradiction to this, it appears that all the lights at the stadium are functional but are sometimes switched off at the fields that are not being utilised at that moment.
Also read: Wheatlands old age facility takes extra Covid-19 precautions
The Herald has since spoken to Rand West City Local Municipality (RWCLM) spokesperson Phillip Montshiwa who said he has noted these challenges and forwarded them to the relevant department.
Meanwhile, Randfontein Rugby Club manager Lulu Kleyn said they rent out the offices at the stadium as well as the A and B fields.
We are renting the facilities that we are utilising at the stadium and we pay RWCLM a certain fee every month. We, however, have to pay to get the fields cleaned up, because the municipality isn’t helping much in that department,” said Kleyn.
She added that there are soccer teams that are currently utilising their pitches to train and they have no problem with this.
“We have people practicing soccer on our fields and that’s no problem for us. However, we, unfortunately, have to move them in the late afternoons when our team members come to practice rugby,” said Kleyn.
*Article updated — Ed.
